Sunday, September 11, 2022
Notre Dame, the #8 football team in the country before yesterday, lost to Marshall University in a tectonic upset. Marshall had been a 14 point underdog, and was playing at Notre Dame’s home field.
Marshall would make over a million dollars just for the appearance. But the players weren’t there just to help the university finances, or to tell their kids someday that they played Notre Dame (aka, a “participation trophy”), or to “quietly quit” and get through the game without being hurt.
They suited up and played to win, despite the disadvantages of being the underdog, an unfriendly crowd, the other team’s brilliant history and standing, and the general near-impossibility of the prospect of winning. While you can cite outstanding coaching and athleticism, I think you have to start with mindset. “We can win, we can succeed, let’s do our best.”
Now tell me about how you just can’t ask for referrals, or you have the (non-existent) “writer’s block,” or how all the odds are stacked against you.